Abstract
We consider the real-time scheduling of full truckload transportation orders with time windows that arrive during schedule execution. Because a fast scheduling method is required, look-ahead heuristics are traditionally used to solve these kinds of problems. As an alternative, we introduce an agent-based approach where intelligent vehicle agents schedule their own routes. They interact with job agents, who strive for minimum transportation costs, using a Vickrey auction for each incoming order. This approach offers several advantages: it is fast, requires relatively little information and facilitates easy schedule adjustments in reaction to information updates. We compare the agent-based approach to more traditional hierarchical heuristics in an extensive simulation experiment. We find that a properly designed multi-agent approach performs as good as or even better than traditional methods. Particularly, the multi-agent approach yields less empty miles and a more stable service level.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 59-75 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | European journal of operational research |
Volume | 181 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Keywords
- Auctions/bidding
- Multi-Agent Systems
- Transportation
- METIS-243140
- IR-58598